The Unexpected Things
by Nusuki Kisuuke
Summary: "Ughh!"Aoi crossed his arms."You're all completely hopele-"He was abruptly cut off as he was totally enveloped by a hug from behind via surprise pounce .His face instantly transformed into 1 of complete wide-eyed shock."Ahhh!What th-" "AOI-CHAAAN!" / Please read! Better than that summary/paragraph/thing!
1. Chapter 1: Return from Across the Seas

**The Unexpected Things**

_**Chapter One: Return from Across the Seas**_

A girl with thick dark-blond hair dragged her mismatched luggage down the steps of the plane's exit stairway and into the large lobby. Her face emotionless, she peered down at the watch on her left wrist.

Looking around she sighed deeply. Then her face broke into a content -if excited- smile. She set off down the hallway at a brisk pace.

Finally, she was back.

_**~-:X:-~**_

"What! Why not? This isn't fair!"

"You're only a middle schooler Aoi, you can't work here. And besides, we only hire female staff. We've been over this."

"But I'm going to own this shop one day anyway and when I wear a wig and cute cloths no one can even tell I'm a guy! And what do you mean you only hire girls?" He pointed an accusing finger at Usui who returned it with a deadpan expression. "What about Usui! He's always here!"

The manager sighed and rubbed a spot between her eyebrows. Then Misaki piped up.

"He doesn't count because he's not human."

"But I'm the great Aoi-chan! Think of how many more customers you'd get if I work here. And I look so cute in this uniform too! And I-"

"That reminds me. Time to take it off. You snuck back here when I was dealing with that customer didn't you? Go change. Now." Manager snatched his blond wig off his head and held it just barely out of his reach, consequently leading him away from the staff room.

"Hey! Give that back! C'mon Satsuki-Chan!

Aoi's cries of protest faded away as the rest of the staff watched him vainly attempting to reclaim his treasure.

"He's full of energy today." Erika said laughing halfheartedly. The rest of the staff nodded in agreement.

_**-:X:-**_

"Stupid old hag." Aoi muttered under his breath, a slight pout evident on his face as he went back to fiercely concentrating on his sketch. Eventually he relaxed and allowed his gaze to wander around his room. His eyes fell on an old, familiar piece of paper that lay half in shadow on top of his dresser. Lazily he walked over to it and picked it up.

The pencil had become smudged with age and its surface was wrinkled.

Under normal circumstances he would have thrown it away long ago. The design was outdated and the drawing wasn't even that good. He would have -had the circumstances been normal- which they weren't. He drew this five years ago. Or more accurately, they drew it. But he hadn't seen her sense that time. They still talked. Occasionally. Over the phone, threw e-mail, sometimes threw letters. But it wasn't the same. He would never in a million years admit it, but he missed his friend. She was the first one after all, who had supported him. The first one who had made him feel proud.

He growled at his stupidity, rubbing his head furiously. He needed to snap out of this. What was wrong with him? Hadn't he stopped worrying about these types of things long ago? He was acting like such a stupid sap! Like some bad actor playing the role of a lovesick girl in a play that would ultimately fail.

He was about to set the paper back down but thought better of it.

Silently he walked back to his seat and pinned the familiar drawing to the billboard hanging just above the desk.

The only sound was the scribbling of a pencil and the ticking of a clock as the night went on.

_**-:X:-**_

_Next morning..._

The school bell rang and the classroom filled with students who half a minute previous could have been mistaken for zombies, but instantly sprang to attention at the sound of the bell. The classroom full of chatter, Aoi gathered up his stuff with a bored expression on his face.

A few guys standing by the door were talking in excited voices about a new student that would be arriving the day after the next. Aoi vaguely heard something along the lines of:

"...Thursday I think."

"It's a girl right? I hope she's cute!"

"I heard she's a return transfer student from America. You know what that means..."

"Tch. How stupid can you get?" Aoi mumbled just loudly enough for the group of boys to hear. Earning a host of dirty looks and quiet insults.

He didn't care. He was used to those and it wasn't like he cared what such idiotic people thought of him. Or about some dumb transfer student.

He walked out alone.

"Mmm. I guess I have some time before I have to get back home. I'll go hang out at Satsuki's store for a while." Nothing better to do. He thought dryly.

_**-:X:-**_

"Oh, Aoi-Chan!"The manager exclaimed brightly upon walking into the staff lounge to see a brooding Aoi in a _male _school uniform. "It's a good thing you're here! I was just about to call you!"

"Hm? Why?" Why is she suddenly so happy to see me? It's suspicious.

"There's a surprise for you." She chirped brightly. Then in a lower voice mumbled "It was kinda a surprise to me too but..."

She was interrupted as Misaki, Subaru, and Erika walking into the room.

"Umm, manager? There's someone here to-"

"Misaki-chi! You're wearing ugly cloths again! What about that dress I made you? Why aren't you wearing that!"

Misaki put her hands up in defense as Aoi jumped up from his chair and started lecturing her.

"Well I was just coming to work so I-"

"That's no excuse! Those cloths don't have the slightest trace of femininity! Where's your sense of pride!"

Misaki sweat dropped while everyone else tried to disappear into the background.

"A-aoi. That's-" She was cut off as a rapidly approaching something behind Aoi caught her attention. But he didn't notice and continued his tirade.

"Ughh!" Aoi crossed his arms. "You're all completely hopele-" He was abruptly cut off as he was totally enveloped by a hug from behind (via surprise pounce). His face instantly transformed into one of complete wide-eyed shock."Ahhh! What th-"

"AOI-CHAAAN!" His head snapped to the side to stare at his attacker.

And his eyes widened.

"W-what?"

"I've missed you so much Aoi-chan!"

"Mi-Minami-chan? How-?"

"I moved back here!"

"Heeeh?" Aoi disentangled her arms from his neck and stepped back, finally getting a good look at her. He was suddenly struck by a fact that the photos she had occasionally sent him had not conveyed: She was pretty. No, she was beautiful even. Her wavy, dirty-blond hair fell down to her waist and her large eyes were a familiar bright hazel color. She had gotten taller too. Though, he noticed with satisfaction, he was still the taller of the two.

"W-when did you get back? I thought you had to go live in the United States 'cause your dad's job got transferred there."

"I did. But my older sister graduated a few months ago then decided to move back here to get a doctors degree. So I came too!"

There was a moment of stunned silence. It was just like Minami to do something as impulsive as this. He had the urge to ask her if her parents knew she was here, but held it back. Instead he asked "So your sister's letting you live with her?"

"Well..." She stared to the left of his head, down at the ground, anywhere but his eyes. That was how you could always tell when something was up with Minami. She always looked you straight in the eyes when she was talking to you. Except when she was up to something.

"Minami. Your sister does know you're here right?"

"Of course she does!"

"And you're staying with her. Right?"

"Err. Not exactly. She's in collage so she's pretty low on cash right now, that's why she's been living in a dorm. And it's kinda illegal to stay there unless you're going to the collage. So...Yah. But it's okay!

'Cause Onee-chan is getting an apartment next year and she said I could stay with her then!"

He stared at her, his face one of total bafflement.

"...Minami. Just where were you planning on staying until then?"

"Some hotels probably." There was another stunned silence. Sensing the strained atmosphere Minami's responsible side made an appearance.

"It's okay. I have a lot of money saved up so I can afford it."

"Minami-chan. You can't stay at hotels for an entire year. That's just-"

Cough. "Umm. Minami-chan. If you don't have anywhere to go, you can stay with me if you want."

Aoi and Minami turned to the perky manger at the same time and Aoi came crashing back to earth. His face turned red as he realized he was still holding her hands from when he had unattached her from the surprise hug. It was probably the stray flower of moe drifting off Satsuki that gave it away.

Aoi coughed and tried to act casual, despising that his usual personal had slipped.

Really Oba-san! Thank you so much! I mean... if it's not too much trouble.

"Minami-chan, I've known you sense you were six years old. It's no trouble at all. And please don't call me Oba-san! It makes me feel old! She said waving her arms and pouting.

"Sorry Satsuki-kun. And really it is so good to see you again. Oh yah! And mom and dad say hi." She had said the word "Hi" in English. Satsuki smiled.

"Oh! Minami-chan this is Ayuzawa Misaki, Subaru, Erika, and- umm. Where's Hanoka-chan?... Ah! Anyway, they all work here at Maid-latte. And this is Hiyashina Minami. She was born here but had to move away five years ago because her father got relocated.~"

Minami turned to face the others and bowed politely.

"It's nice to meet all of you. Aoi talks about this place all the ti-" The rest of her words were cut off by Aoi's hand over her mouth.

"Shhhhh! Shut up Minami-chan!"

There was a muffled response.

Erika laughed and Subaru sweat dropped. "They seem to get along well."

"Oh yes! They've been friends sense they were little."

Minami had somehow managed to remove Aoi's hand and was suddenly right next to Satsuki, dragging a protesting Aoi behind her by the arm.

"Mm-hmm. We've been keeping contact over the years though. Mostly through e-mail."

"Really?..." Satsuki cocked her head and turned to look at Aoi, who blushed, scowled, and looked away.

"Hmm. Oh that's right! Minami-chan, where are you going to be going to school?"

Minami smiled. "Oh. I'm..."

___**-:X:-~**_

A/N: Hi people! Thanks for reading! You rock for that. But I won't know you read this story unless you review so REVIEW! This story is just a little idea I had while randomly watching the first "Aoi episode" of Maid-sama. I wanted to see what it would be like if Aoi had a very outgoing and genuine friend. Well those traits and a few others I won't give away until future chapters. ;) . Anyway, come to think of it it's a little weird that I made an Aoi fic sense Kanou is my favorite character. I mean I like Aoi too but it just sort of surprised me when I came up with the idea. But the thought just kept nagging and nagging me, so I had to write it. Thus this fan fiction was born! Hahaha. Okay, one last thing. Or two: Anyone who reviews gets mentioned in the next chapter. And also please read and review my other stories. Just go to my profile and look them up. Since I obviously have such wonderful taste in anime/books/movies/ ect. Just a little motivation. Thanks again for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: Not Quite Unknown

**The Unexpected Things**

_Chapter Two: Not Quite Unknown_

_**-~::~-**_

"Class meet Suryu Minami. She just transferred back here from the United States of America after living there for the past 7 years.

Aoi's mouth dropped open.

There was a sound that was the equivalent of a whispered out roar. Half the class was whispering (loudly), the other half talking to each other excitedly or yelling out comments and greetings to a lightly blushing Minami. While a startled Aoi just stared forward in disbelief.

"Suryu-san, would you like to say anything to the class?"

She shifted indecisively for a second. Honestly, she wanted to say no. Or just a simple 'Hello'. But that would probably end up seeming rude. She settled on a cliché greeting that made her twitch inwardly.

"Hello. I'm looking forward to having a good year with all of you." She finished with a sweet smile. She hated being put on the spot like this. She didn't like the way everyone's eyes were on her examining her every word and action. It wasn't as if she was shy. But she didn't like these types of situations all the same. She was more of a...spontaneous type of person.

She received several enthusiastic smiles back and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Now that that was over with, she could relax.

"Okay Suryu. You can take a seat anywhere. Class I have to go to the main office for a minute so just talk amongst yourselves for a while _quietly_.

While the teacher was gathering up some unbearably dull looking papers, Minami's eyes searched the room and her face lit up when she spied an open seat next to Aoi. She walked over to the desk opposite him and dropped her bag on it before sitting down. Fiddling absent mindedly with a piece of paper (her class schedule) she turned to him with a bright smile in her face.

"Hey Aoi."

There were a lot of things he could have said to that. Among them asking her why she was going to _this_ school (though he could guess the answer) , why she thought this entire situation was so normal, how she was so calm, and if she realized that practically the entire class was staring at her in awe right now. But instead, true to his nature, he replied:

"Hi. Why'd you have to sit here? Everyone's staring." He threw a glare around the room.

"Suryu-kun!," someone tried to whisper/yell to her frantically from a few seats away, throwing what was probably a warning glance back at the black haired boy, "Ignore him. Come sit over here!"

She in return ignored them pointedly.

"Aww. You're so mean Aoi-chan! You're the only one I know so naturally I'd sit here."

Several people stared at her with wide eyes. Aoi-_chan_? Was this girl crazy?

This she notice. "Umm. Aoi? What is everyone gawking at?"

He put his hand to his face, his eyebrow twitching slightly, and replied: "Ugh. Nothing. They're not worth acknowledging Minami. Just ignore them."

This comment of course earned him several glares.

But he really didn't feel like explaining how everyone in this class was either terrified of him or hated his guts. (Somewhere deep in the back of his mind he thought that she wouldn't believe him if he told her that. And in that same deep place he thought he might be a little bit happy about that fact. But then, he would only allow those types of thoughts there.) He continued the conversation nonchalantly. Eventually starting to enjoy talking to her despite himself. He couldn't help it. It was too easy; too comfortable to talk with her. The onlookers continued to stare in disbelief. How come he was still talking to her? And why the hell was such a cute girl talking to him? And letting him use her given name no less.

A few minutes later the teacher walked back in and tapped Aoi on the shoulder. Aoi stopped mid sentence and turned to him with his 'You-bore-me. Why-are you-bothering-me-face' instantly plastered on.

"Aoi, I've been told that you know Ms. Suryu-san so I'm making it your job to show her around for the next few days. And no it is not optional."

Aoi scowled but nodded.

The teacher raised an eyebrow slightly, surprised that he had not put up an argument. 'I guess they really do know each other. Well, less work for me.' He thought.

Minami was currently asking Aoi if they had a lot of homework at this school when suddenly Aoi hissed something along the lines of "Oh shit! I forgot!" And stomped off out the room to reclaim a project he had left in his footlocker. He didn't particularly care if he got a bad grade. Except that if he did, his dad had threatened to take away all his cute clothes _again_. He left quickly saying to Minami over his shoulder that he'd be back in a minute.

As soon as the door closed behind him she was instantly surrounded (literally) by classmates.

"Suryu-kun, Suryu-kun! What was it like in America? When did you move there? How old are you Suryu-san? Why were you talking to that guy? Hey, she's pretty cute! Do you know that Aoi or something? Wanna hang out later? Hey! Say something in English!" And one boy (who honestly freaked her out a little) called loudly, "Do you have a boyfriend!"

Okay. Too many questions. How's that for overwhelming? She put her hands up in front of her and gave a harassed sort of smile.

"Uh. Guys?" Everyone faded into silence. "I can't understand a word your saying." Oh wow. Now they'll think I'm a total foreigner who can't even understand Japanese. Better add "You're all talking at once."

That slowed them down. After explaining her situation to them, and forcing herself to comprehend the apparent fact that her being a transfer student made her automatically..."popular" (she nearly wrinkled her nose at the dislike of the word), she concluded the interrogation with: "Aoi and I are childhood friends. We've known each other sense even before I moved."

This left them in shock.

But before anyone could say anything Aoi walked back in. He took one look around, scowled even harder, and closing his eyes to show his annoyance and determined intent to ignore them, sat down at his desk and watched as the crowd dissipated.

Minami sent him a discrete thankful look. And went back to copying down her schedule.

_**-~::~-**_

**A/N:** People you haven't been reviewing! I've gotten a few e-mail alerts saying that people favorite or author alerted my story, but you didn't review! Please talk to me! As for those of you who_ did_ review: "_Padfoot Starfyre_, _Awesomeness_, _Midnight star237" _You are amazing and I thank you. Sorry it took so long to update, but I wrote this on my kindle, then my kindle broke (thankfully I'm getting it fixed), so I had to retype it completely on my computer. Also I'm lazy so I didn't update. Sorry! Anyway, once again thanks for reading and please review and give me help and tips cause I'm struggling a little with Aoi's character. Also, I realize that the classrooms behavior is really annoying and unrealistic, but I felt the need to poke a little fun at the more dramatic anime's (*cough-example-cough*) tendencies to exaggerate their student's reactions. Anyway. R&R!


	3. Chapter 3: CellPhones and BookBags

**The Unexpected Things**

_**Chapter Three: Cell-phones and Book-bags**_

_**-~:o:~-**_

"Hey, Aoi."

"Mm? What is it?" He said not looking up from his school bag, which he was busy rummaging through in an attempt to find his cell phone.

"Let's go walk around somewhere after school. I've been here a week and I haven't gotten a chance to go explore yet."

"Why do I have to come? Can't you just go by yourself?"

Undiscouraged, Minami replied matter-of-factly, "'Cause I'll get lost."

He sighed, unable to deny this fact. It wasn't that Minami had no sense of direction; it was more like she would go off in whatever direction sparked her interest to the point that she ended up in an area completely unknown to her. This had happened numerable times to the two of them when they were little during days when Minami decided to go off on an "adventure".

"Fine. I have some free time after school anyway sense I don't feel like going straight home."

"Yay!" the dark haired girl said self-satisfied.

"Ah!" Aoi said holding up his cell-phone. "Found it."

Just then said item was snatched from his hand by the absolutely ancient English teacher.

"No cell-phones allowed in class _Mister_ Hyoudou."

"Aah! Hey! Bu-"

"Say it in _English_ Hyoudou-kun."

Aoi scowled but replied, annunciating each syllable with great effort through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Misses Kenny."

The teacher smiled, though with her crooked teeth it looked more like a sneer to the students.

Aoi glared at her as she placed the cell-phone on top of a stack of ungraded papers.

"Now." The teacher said, plopping her wrinkled hands down on her podium. "Please turn to page 208 of you textbooks. We are going to be finishing up chapter 11 today."

Someone raised their hand.

"_Yes,_ _Mister_ Sato?"

"We finished that chapter last week."

"Oh, _yes_ that's right!" The old woman exclaimed in a shrill voice.

"And the week before." Someone mumbled behind Minami.

"Then chapter 12. Where are my glasses?"

No one bothered to tell her they were on top of the bookshelf behind her. Although it was puzzling how she could have gotten them up there in the first place considering it was placed five selves above her head.

"Ohhh!" he teacher exclaimed impatiently when she failed to find them. Finally turning her back to the class, she began writing the problem numbers on the blackboard.

When Minami glanced at Aoi, he was still scowling.

_**-~:o:~-**_

Finally the school bell rang, signaling the end of the last class of the day. By the time Suryu had finished shoving her papers into her book-bag, the classroom was mostly empty. Even the teacher had disappeared, seeming to have gotten swept away by the currant of students eagerly escaping into the hallways.

'But really,' Minami thought, 'backpacks work so much better than these little book-bags they use in Japan.'

"Ready Aoi-chan?" She said, coming to stand next to the black-haired boy.

He sighed. "Yeah I guess." Then mumbled "I can't believe that old witch took my phone. I wasn't even using it!"

Minami tilted her head to the side, staring openly at her friend.

Then just as they were passing by the teacher's desk on their way out the door, she leaned over and scooped Aoi's cell-phone from off the stack of papers.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aoi asked taken aback.

Minami raised an eyebrow as if it was obvious.

"Getting your phone. What does it look like I'm doing?" She laughed lightly at his stunned face.

"Don't you think she'll notice if it's gone?" he said, although he already knew he had lost this battle.

"Nope."

He sweat dropped.

"Besides," she said, her face becoming stubborn and serious, "It wasn't fair of her to take it. I wouldn't have done anything if she had a real reason."

Aoi sighed again but was relieved despite himself as he took the phone.

"Fine. Thanks. Let's go before she comes back."

They were walking down the still crowded hallway, and trying not to be hit by the constantly opening and closing classroom doors, when Minami heard Aoi exclaim loudly behind her.

"Ugh!"

"What is it?"

"The strap for the charm on my phone snapped. Sensei probably broke it when she took it." He glowered down at the phone, mumbling something along the lines of "It was one of my _cute_ phone accessories too."

Minami looked down at the phone and pulled him over to a quieter section of the hallway.

"Come here for a second."

"Hm?" By now he was starting to get used to being dragged around by her.

She looked down at his phone. "I think I can fix it. It looks like the band just snapped. Hold it for a sec so I can retie it."

He held it out for her as she bent over it, fiddling with the string that attached the silver charm to the phone. It was a small king's crown with a dark blue stone fixated on the string above it.

Just as she finished tying off the knot to hold it in place and was leaning away, something collided with her from behind (a pair of boys chasing each other down the hallway) and she lurched forward, falling against Aoi's chest.

Automatically his arms came around her in an attempt to help her regain her balance, one arm around her waist and the other on her back. Likewise her hands curled themselves against his chest in an aim to cushion her fall. Both their eyes were wide with surprise.

For a split second, with his face so close to hers, Aoi could smell the scent of shampoo in her hair, a sweet smell. Not the scent of perfume or body spray as most girls would use or as he would use when he was in his net-idol form, she never used such things, claiming not to have the time. It was sweet, and wild, and light.

And then it was gone, and he realized his face was a bright red.

They pulled back at the same time.

"Erm…" he cleared his throat and forced his blush down, to preoccupied with hiding his embarrassment to notice her own face was also stained lightly with pink.

As usual when she looked up he was scowling in an attempt to hide his awkwardness. If it weren't for the slightest dusting of pink across his cheeks, and if she hadn't known him so well, Minami might have feared that he was angry.

"Sorry." She said quickly in an even voice.

"What were they doing chasing each other around anyway? The hallways crowded enough without those idiots making it worse." Aoi said his scowl fading.

"I don't know, but they're gonna run into a wall or something." She laughed at the idea as she began walking.

After a second, he grudgingly grinned and followed. It was amazing how quickly she could change people's moods. All it took was a smile, or in some cases a frown and his mood switched in an instant. It was kinda amazing.

Aoi looked down at his now repaired cell phone. Minami had always been good at that sort of thing. Little detailed work that required a delicate hand. She was good at it, despite her somewhat tactless personality. You couldn't even tell it had been broken in the first place.

Then he remembered the scene that had just taken place in the hallway, and at recalling the memory he felt his face heat up.

'What the heck is wrong with me?It's not like it was a big deal anyway sense it was just Minami. So why do I feel so embarrassed?!'

He shook his head, trying to brush off the foolish unease.

'Okay. Just forget about it.'

Catching up to her he tucked his phone in his pocket and said offhandedly

"And thanks for fixing my phone."

She smiled.

"No problem. Let's go."

_**-~:o:~-**_

"So, why are we at the park?" Aoi asked, slinging is bag over his shoulder with practiced indifferance.

"Why not?"

She had a point there.

"Whatever." Aoi said off-handedly. "We're here."

The park was large. It had several benches places along the perimeter of the park and there was a fountain in the middle. In one far corner Minami could see a small playground where a number of young children played. There were also numerous flowerbeds positioned purposefully throughout the park, most ready to be lit by nearby lampposts.

Minami smiled hugely and giggled. Earning a look from the boy beside her.

"We used to come here to play all the time when we were little remember?"

"Yeah. I know. We u—" His words died on his lips as the realization hit him.

"Wait! You know the way to the park! You could've just come her yourself! Why'd you make me come?"

"You're still going on about that?" Minami blew a strand of air out of her eyes. "First of all, I remember _coming_ here. I didn't remember how to get here. I've been on another continent for five years remember?" Minami said matter-of-factly with a laugh.

"And second of all," She looked up at him. "I wanted to hang out with you. So let's go play!"

Aoi stared at her from the corner of his eye for a long moment, then sighed in defeat. It was extremely hard to remain upset with Minami when she was beaming at you like that. And what was worse, she was doing it unconsciously.

"Fine. There were some spots I wanted to check out to see if they were possibilities for my next idol photo-shoot anyway."

He turned around to see Minami with a very resolute expression on her face.

"…Okay." Minami said carefully. "Helping with your idol stuff sounds fun… But let's play first!" She smiled and started tugging on his arm.

"W-what? No. My idol stuff is top priority."

"Aww! C'mon Aoi-chan! Play with me!

"No way."

"Please!?"

"No."

A mischievous glint could be seen sparkling in Minami's eyes as she turned around to face him. She smirked playfully and leaned closer so that their faces were a mere six inches apart.

"Aoi chan~." She said in a tauntingly playful voice as Aoi leaned away from her startled. Minami didn't notice the blush appearing on his face. "If you really don't want to, I'm going to have to make you come and play."

"Wha-what the heck…"

Suddenly in one quick motion Minami reached over and snatched her friends book-bag out of his hand.

"H-hey! Give that back!"

She ran away laughing and holding his bag jut out of his reach.

"Minami!"

Aoi couldn't see it, but there was a very joyful smile spread across the girls face as she ran through the park, being followed by a loudly yelling Aoi.

Minami was just turning a corner, long hair streaming behind her, when Aoi caught up with her. Grabbing her wrist from behind he attempted to retrieve his much-abused-bag. But a strong yank to the bag caused her to loose her balance, and in the process, his as well.

They both collapsed in a heap on the ground.

After a few seconds Aoi sat up, clearly enraged.

"What the hell Minami! What was all that for!?"

"Sorry." The girl replied softly, still panting for breath after her long run.

Aoi stared for a moment then collapsed back on the ground next to her, as tired out as she was.

"Seriously, what the heck is wrong with you?" He gasped, closing his eyes as he caught his breath.

"Mmhmm…I'll keep my promise. I'll help you look for some photography spots. Just…let me…rest for a bit." She sighed and put a hand to her head, pushing back her bangs.

The next couple of hours they spent walking around the park, fulfilling the promise Minami made. Eventually Aoi admitted he was satisfied and they left the park.

"Well I'm gonna go. I have some stuff to do. See ya." Aoi said with an emotionless face and started walking away.

"Aoi." Minami called. He turned around to see her smiling brightly at him.

"Thanks!" She waved briefly then turned around and started to head to her home, in the opposite direction.

He stared after her momentarily stunned by her cheerfulness.

Then shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking. Grumbling to himself "Don't thank me you idiot. We had a deal."

_**-~:o:~-**_

Yeah! I'm done with chapter three! Finally. Thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and follows! They really make my day, especially the reviews. And thanks Heze-chan for helping me with that "tricky cell phone scene" at the beginning. (seriously readers, I made her read like three different versions of that scene before I would publish this.) I had an idea for a scene that could come later on. It's pretty cute, but the timing is gonna be hard. But trust me, you will know it when you see it. Anyway, thanks for reading! (Oh, and just a side comment, I was thinking of making a deal with you guys, if I get a certain number of reviews, I will put in a bonus chapter.)

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! _PLEASE!_

**V**


	4. Chapter 4: Socializing Lolita

**The Unexpected Things**

_Chapter Four: Socializing Lolita?_

_**-~:o:~-**_

_**A/N:**_ Hey guys! Reeeeeeeally sorry for the late update. I'm going to change the way Minami addresses Aoi starting with this chapter. This is just to avoid confusion between the Internet Idol Aoi-chan, and the not-crossdressed version of Aoi. So Minami is going to call him Aoi-kun except when he is cross-dressing or she is talking about his internet idol life. Or just teasing him. Also just so you know, in the anime Aoi was 14, so I'm making him 14 or 15 in this fanfic. Also _italics _are thoughts. There are several "*" notes in this chapter, so if you're unsure of something with a * next to it, just go ahead and skip to the bottom A/N.

_**-~:o:~-**_

"Hey... Hey, Minami-san!"

"Huh?" Minami looked up at the short girl suddenly standing beside her desk and cocked her head. "Uh, Yes?...I'm sorry, I forgot your name." Minami smiled embarrassedly and rubbed the back of her head. The short girl smiled back.

"That's okay, my name's Miyagi Akira. You can call me Akira if you want." She smiled sweetly. She talked quite fast.

"Oh. That's—Then in that case you can call me Minami."

"Okay! Minami-chan~."

She's trying to be friends, Minami realized finally; and smiled again.

The girl had large, dark brown eyes and light brown hair that she partially gathered in a small bun at the side of her head and tied with a small black ribbon. She was wearing a little bit of makeup and was not afraid to show it. She had a cute notebook clutched under one arm. But still…

"So anyway. Listen! Listen! A few friends and I are going to the Fire Festival next Saturday, so do you want to come? We have three extra tickets for the show."

"Err…A festival?...That's a bit—" She looked around a bit helplessly until she spied Aoi walking through the doorway, nearly late for class again. She quickly stood up as he passed by her desk and linked her arm around his, pointing a bit rashly at his shoulder.

"Sorry Akira, but I already made plans with this guy for that day—so I can't make it to the fire festival. Thanks for the offer though."

Aoi looked at her, his face a mixture of surprise and confusion. Then at his forearm, which she still had a firm grip on. He gently detached himself from her and stood at her side with his arms crossed, scowling as usual. He almost said something. _Almost_. Instead he chose to simply observed the situation. It wasn't usual for Minami to lie. In fact, she made a point to do it as rarely as possible. He wondered what her reason might be.

"Oh…I see…" Akira looked down at her carefully polished shoes sadly. Minami felt a twinge of guilt.

"Uhmm…But…" She seemed to think for a moment before opening her mouth.

"But, I was thinking of going shopping somewhere later. How about we hang out then?" She smiled. Girls like her usually like shopping right?

Akira looked up immediately. "Uh-huh!" She said happily and returned to her seat, apparently quite pleased with herself.

Aoi's eyes followed her passively until she sat down, then turned to Minami. A clearly questioning gaze set right at her. She looked up innocently.

"What?"

"…Minami…"

"Yeah?"

He sighed. "Do I have to ask?"

"Do I have to tell you for you to know?"

Touché.

He sighed again.

"What? No eye roll? At least if you do that I won't feel like I'm being pitied." She smiled, but Aoi could she the irony behind it. And there was a cold spark to the word 'pitied' as she said it. As if the word greatly displeased her and she wanted it past her lips and out of her mind as soon as possible.

He took a breath.

"Wha—! Who in the right mind would pity you!?" he practically yelled and stomped away to his seat.

Minami smiled fondly and continued reading the momentarily abandoned book on her desk.

_**-~:o:~-**_

"Let's go to Maid Latté!"

Minami had suggested it just after school that day and Aoi had agreed; for two reasons.

The first: He had already been planning to go there at some point that week, as the famous internet idol Aoi-chan of course.

Second: Dressing up (or even better _cross-dressing) _was fun. He enjoyed looking cute. And here now, was a_ perhaps_ willing friend of his who just happened to be a cute and pretty girl.

They turned a corner. Minami was wearing her usual happy-go-lucky expression, and Aoi-chan was trying to hide his…complicated expression.

This is how it happened.

_Cue Flashback to 2 Hours Ago_

"…So why do we have to stop at your house first?"

"You'll see."

Minami finally gave up. No matter how many times she asked him what he was planning (and he _was _planning something, she felt sure) he wouldn't answer her. Basically, his answers ranged from the ever-informative ''Cause' to the most recent 'You'll see when we get there.'

"_Veeeeeeeery_ suspicious." She said aloud, giving Aoi a wary glance from the corner of her eyes.

_Damn._ He thought. _If she keeps staring at me like that I might actually say…_ his thoughts trailed off as they came to his front door.

"Tadaima."* He said tiredly as he entered, anticipating what would happen next as he slipped off his shoes and left them at the doorway.

"O-jama shimasu…"** Minami said looking around curiously with wide eyes.

"Hasn't changed much." She giggled. "So where is everybody?"

"Well, my dad's out but he'll probably be back soon (so we should hurry), my mom's here somewhere, and Onii-san is—"***

"Suryu Minami?" said a low voice as Aoi's older brother came around the corner.

Minami gave a bright smile.

"Mr. Stoic!"****

She bounced over to him. "You got taller. No fair."

"You too." He retorted voice even. "And are you still planning on calling me that? At least call me Onii-san."

She laughed.

"Jeeze. You're no fun to tease _Onii-san_. You sh—"

Aoi glowered and grabbed Minami by the arm.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Lets go." He started dragging her over to the stairs, scowling.

But they were intercepted.

"Ah! Minami-chan! Good to see you again." Aoi's mother said walking into the room. She was thin and wore her hair in a low, black ponytail.

"Good to see you too Okaa-san."***** She gave her a smile and a nod then turned to face her son.

"Aoi, you should have told me you were bringing Minami-chan over."

"Yeah, sorry." Aoi replied and started walking up the stairs, followed by Minami.

Aoi's older brother could be heard commenting "They're as close as ever." as the two climbed up the stairs to Aoi's room.

Aoi's doors were open wide and faced in the direction of his desk, so Minami saw the drawing pinned to his billboard right away.

"No way, you still have this?" She walked over to the billboard and lifted a corner of the paper carefully.

Aoi blushed and scowled.

"Yeah. So what?"

"Minami inclined her head to him, used to his reactions.

"Nothing, I have the copy of it too…somewhere…"

He laughed once, quickly. _That's just like her_ he thought.

"So." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed decisively. "Will you tell me _now_ why we're here?" She mumbled the next part. "And not at Maid Latté…?"

He sat down in the rolling chair by his desk and swerved to face her.

"Remember how you said you liked my Aoi-chan clothes?"

"…Did I say that?" She looked at him skeptically and increasingly wearily. Already expecting something.

Aoi didn't answer her.

"I'm going to maid Latté dressed up. A lot of people see me there and I want more people to visit my web page."

Ah.

"So—"

"You want me to dress up as a lolita, with you." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

He nodded anyway.

"Mmmmm…" she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully, then shook her head. "Uh-uh." She said.

"Why not!? You should feel honored to have the great Aoi-chan lend you my cute clothes!"

Minami flopped down on the bed and yawned.

"I don't feel like it. Too tired…" She closed her eyes.

"What do you mean? And don't just lie down on a guy's bed!" He howled, ticked, and wagged his arm at her, pointing accusingly.

There was no response.

He sighed.

"Jeeze. I'm the one who designed the dress anyway, it's not like you have to do anything but wear it."

Minami's eyes floated open.

She quietly asked "You designed it?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause,

"Okay. I'll wear it."

"Haa?"

"Where is it? Is this it?" Minami pulled a fluffy green dress from a hanger dangling from the closet's inner doorknob.

"No! That ones not don't ye—!" A pile of lace fell to the floor.

"Sorry Aoi-kun." She smiled apologetically and bent down to retrieve the light white fabric.

Another sigh from the black haired boy.

"Whatever. It's this one."

He pulled a cute light blue dress with long sleeves ending in simple white lace at the wrists and a collar made of the same fabric that extended from her collar bone to about five inches below and studded with a row of white buttons. The dress ended with a puffy white skirt that would come down to just below Minami's knees. In addition, there were frills that made mock-puff sleeves just below her shoulders, topped with a small, light blue bow on each. Minami suspected there was also a bow on the back.

"Wow." Minami said, speechless.

Aoi snorted. "But of course." His nose sharpened with pride.

"Umm…Do you want me to go try it on now or…?"

Aoi's eyes scanned her.

"Wait a second." He proceeded to pull out a well-used sewing kit out from under his bed.

Minami heard him mumble under his breath, "Better do this quick before dad gets home."

Minami peered over his shoulder as he snipped, sewed, trimmed, stitched, and snipped some more. She couldn't help but smile as he cut off the expected bow from the back of her dress.

"Hey, wouldn't a sewing machine be faster?"

"Yeah, but then mom would hear it. Or my father might come home and…"

Minami quickly changed the subject by commenting that she liked the color of the dress. Blue was her favorite color.

Minami wasn't quite as in to _kawaii_****** things as her childhood friend was, but she could still appreciate things that were cute. After spending so much time with Aoi, she probably liked this sort of thing more than most people. Besides…

She looked at Aoi, happily sewing away, a look of pure concentration on his face.

He seemed to be enjoying himself.

She smiled.

"Okay. Here." He held it out proudly and she took it. He was looking at her expectantly.

…

"Cute." She commented with just the right pitch of awe in her voice… he grinned. But the effect was mildly ruined when he snorted. "Of course."

She laughed and considered squashing his long, prideful nose back in. Instead she shoved him in the arm playfully and walked towards the bathroom at the other side of the hall.

Five minutes later she emerged wearing the dress.

She laughed. "I like it."

He turned around to face her, already in his idol clothes except for the wig.

He blushed.

She looked, to say the least, very, very pretty.

He stared.

She raised an eyebrow. "Aoi…?"

"…Mm?"

"What do you think?"

She twirled around and laughed. Deciding that this once-simple outing would be a fun one.

"I made it, so of course you look cute—I mean of course it's cute. Sense I made it."

His face turned pink as he realized his mistake, but it seemed to Aoi that she hadn't noticed.

Though for the record, she did. It's just that she wasn't the type of girl to think much on it.

She grinned and sang "Thank you very much A-o-i-chan~." She giggled.

Then spotted the wig. Her smile was replaced with a mischievous smirk as she picked it up off the now cluttered desk. It was lying amongst a pile of beauty stuff. She placed it on her head lopsidedly. Her real hair stuck out all over the place and even trailed down her back in striking contrast to the yellow of the wig. The bangs half-covered the hazel eyes that peered out from under them half-squinting.

"_Pfft_."

Minami looked up at him. Aoi burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! You look—That's so not cute Minami!"

He chuckled again and soon Minami was laughing along with him.

Once the laughter died down Minami gave one last giggle and looked up at Aoi, smiling warmly.

"Yay. That's the first time I've heard you laugh sense I got here. I'm happy."

"What..?" He looked at her face once and turned around. "Idiot."

Minami smiled on unconcerned.

"C'mon. We should hurry up and leave.

_Back to Present Time_

As the pair walked along the sidewalk together, one was seemingly oblivious to the looks awe and comments of cute from passing bystanders, and the other was glowing with satisfaction at the remarks.

"Ne, Aoi-chan? Are we almost there?"*******

"Yeah. It's just over there." Aoi pointed to a line of shops at the end of the road.

Minami muffled a giggled.

"What?"

"Your voice is so different, it's weird. Ah! But not in a bad way, it just surprised me." She smiled, proving she meant her comment in a harmless way. Well, it was Minami after all.

"Hmph. Well this way I sound more like a g—hey don't make me break character!"

Minami laughed out loud this time. He's so serious about this. He needs to loosen up a bit.

"Ah! We're here! I'm excited, I haven't gotten a chance to see it while its open yet."

The doorbell rang cheerfully as it swung open.

"Onigaimasu Goshujinsama."

They were immediately greeted by one of the workers, someone Minami hadn't been introduced to before. Perhaps she was Honokaa?

"Okaerinasaimase, goshu—…Ojou-samas." ******** The maid smiled brightly upon their entering, but the pointed edge to her voice as she saw the boy-in-disguise made Minami cock her head.

There weren't many people in the café that day, but the few people who were there made overjoyed remarks at the presence of 'Internet Idol Aoi-chan'. A few of them even asked Aoi if he were, in fact, that person and asked who his cute friend was.

"They're friends? So kawaii."

"Maybe they're sisters?"

"No, they look nothing alike. But still…"

"Ahh. We're so lucky to…"

Minami regarded them curiously. "…Does this happen a lot? I didn't expect this many people to recognize you." She whispered.

Aoi replied with something along the lines of 'but of course'.

"May I take your order, _Ojou-samas_?" *********

After quickly, and, Minami thought, a bit awkwardly ordering a matching meal of tea (Earl Grey and a sweeter chamomile for Minami) and a Moe Muffin each, the waitress, who was as Minami had guessed Honokaa, departed.

"Ne Aoi. Do you know that lady? She seems to…"

"Yeah. She's a scary old woman, don't associate with her."

After a stunned pause Minami laughed breathily, affectively charming all the customers in the café.

"I see. That must be Honokaa-san. I'm guessing she already knows."

Aoi sent her a glare and 'harrumphed.'

The rest of the afternoon went by mostly uneventful. They pair enjoyed their tea and food, where 'oohed' and 'ahhed' at by the customers, and basically enjoyed themselves. At one point they started talking so freely that Aoi forgot that several of his fans were listening in on their conversation, which he had been futilely trying to steer in the direction of a cutely polite and meaningless chatter. At that point he had almost let slip that his father was trying to convince him to join the boy's baseball team.

After that, Minami unconsciously noted that he started speaking a little stiffly, and being by nature the type of person who liked to put others at ease, she quickly found something to make him laugh. In this case, a man sitting a few tables away from them, sniffing his salad and eyeing it warily as he lifted a forkful to his mouth.

In a low, laughing voice Minami pointed it out to Aoi.

Slowly his eyes slid over to that table, and on noticing it he let a single puff of laughter escape before slapping his hand over his mouth to muffle it. Minami had been silently watching his reaction, and at hearing the inhuman sound that escaped his lips, started giggling. It was more their combined expressions of amusement then what they were actually laughing at that they found so funny. But laughter, especially among friends, is contagious.

The door bell rang again as they exited Maid Latte.

"That was fun!" Minami locked her arms behind her head as they walked down the street. After a moment she exclaimed "Oh! And we should have gone and said hi to Satsuki-san while we were there."

"What's the point of that? Aren't you staying with her right now? You can see her every day."

"I go to school with you everyday but we just spent four hours hanging out."

Touché. Again.

"Well whatever. We should be getting back. That took longer than I thought it was going to."

"Okay."

They walked together for a while longer but when they got to a point somewhere between the park and the convenience store Minami spoke up.

"'Kay. Well Satsuki-san's house is this way so I'll see you tomorrow Aoi-ch—kun." She waved and started to head back.

"Huh… Oh. Yeah. Bye." He half raised his hand in farewell but suddenly an image of his mother right before they left popped into his mind.

"_You take good care of Minami now! I'll be very angry if anything happens to her. I'm making it your responsibility to look after her for now sense she just got back to Japan…" _the mirage cautioned him.

He clenched his teeth. What he was feeling was not responsibility. Not guilt. No, it was nothing of the sort. What he was feeling was utter, point-blank forebodement.

He groaned.

_Fine._

"I don't really feel like going home yet. I'll walk with you 'till we get to the house."

"Huh? That's alright. It's only a little ways from here. And didn't you say a little while ago that you were late?"

"I said that _I just don't feel like going home just yet._ Besides," he smirked. "You'll probably get lost on you're way back if you're by yourself."

"Wha—Shut up! I have a better sense of direction than that! I defiantly won't get lost!"

But they were already walking.

_**-~:o:~-**_

_**A/N:**_ Its doooooooone! Everybody rejoice! Hahaha. I'm sorry it took so long to update this, but I've had a lot of stuff going on (writing and otherwise) but it's up now in any case. To those of you who sent me a PM I thank you very much. Reviews and messages keep me updating. :) This chapter might just have a rather large effect on future chapters, though I hadn't planned it that way, but it will cause an interesting development. Thank you ALL who favorited, reviewed, followed, sent a PM, I love you all. ^-^ Thank you for reading and please review!

*** **"Tadaima" means "I'm home" or "I'm back".

****** "O-jama shimasu" roughly means "Sorry for intruding". It's what guests say when they enter someone else's home.

***** "**Onii-san" means "Older Brother" It can also be used for boys who are fairly older than you.

****** **Minamisays the "Mister" in "Mr. Stoic!" in English.

******* "**Okaa-san" is used for older woman. I think it means "Auntie" or maybe mother in English.

******** **"Kawaii" means cute or small. But it is also (in this case) a style in Japan. Look it up for more info unless you're too lazy like me.

********* **"Ne" is often used before a sentence. It roughly means "Say…" or "Hey…" as in getting someone's attention—not as in hello.

********** "**Okaerinasaimase" Means "Welcome". In the show they say it when a customer enters the café. When Honokaa says "goshu—" she is about to "goshujin-sama" Which means master, but changes it when she sees Minami and Aoi. See next note..

*********** **"Ojou-sama" means young master in the female form. It is used for wealthy girls and girls of high social standing. Honokaa puts emphasis on this word to sort of… rub in the fact that she knows Aoi is actually a "bocchan" which means young master in the male form.


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